


We Should Do This Every Year

by 1848pianist



Series: Raise a Glass to the Four of Us [3]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Agender Hercules Mulligan, Alternate Universe - College/University, Birthday, Established Relationship, Families of Choice, Genderfluid Lafayette, Multi, Nonbinary Character, Polyamory, Surprise Party
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 05:21:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,801
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5696536
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/1848pianist/pseuds/1848pianist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Happy 261st birthday to Alexander Hamilton, although this is very much based on the musical and not the historical Hamilton.</p>
<p>Interestingly enough, the Google Doodle of the day is Alice Paul holding a sign that says "Deeds not Words" so I imagine Eliza and Angelica are giving Hamilton no end of grief in the afterlife (as it should be).</p>
            </blockquote>





	We Should Do This Every Year

There’s a bulletin board at the end of the hall with all the birthdays of everyone on their hall. It’s become such a routine to walk by it on hir way to class that Lafayette hardly notices it anymore, but as ze’s moving back in from winter break something catches hir eye.

Today is January ninth. Hamilton’s birthday is in two days.

Lafayette glances down the hall. Hamilton could be back any minute, but so far his door is still closed, the room dark. The light is on in Laurens’s room, though.

Lafayette knocks, excited both by seeing Laurens again and by the idea of surprising Hamilton on his birthday.

Laurens opens the door almost immediately, looking tired, but smiling at the sight of Lafayette. “Hi,” he says.

“Hi,” ze says. “Can I come in?”

Laurens takes one look at the light in Lafayette’s eyes and knows something’s afoot. “Sure. I’m just unpacking.”

Lafayette closes the door behind hir, bouncing slightly on hir feet. “Did you know Hamilton’s birthday is in two days?” ze asks.

Laurens looks up from his suitcase. “It is?”

Ze nods. “I didn’t know either, but I just saw the bulletin board outside. We should surprise him.”

A hint of a smile appears at the corners of Laurens’s mouth. “What did you have in mind?”

“Nothing huge,” Lafayette says. “Just a surprise party – us, Hercules, Eliza, Angelica…”

“Peggy,” Laurens adds.

“Yes, and Peggy,” ze agrees.

“That’s not very much time to plan, though,” Laurens points out.

Lafayette waves a hand. “You know how good Angelica is at organizing things. I’m sure we can get something done. And this is perfect. It’s the beginning of the semester, so even Hamilton can’t be swamped with schoolwork yet.”

“Don’t underestimate him,” Laurens jokes. “What about gifts?”

Ze pauses. “Hmm, good point.”

Before either of them can think of any suggestions, they hear a loud bang from across the hall followed by a stream of expletives in Hamilton’s voice.

Lafayette grins. “We’d better go and help.”

*

The next day, while Lafayette recruits Hercules and the Schuyler sisters into surprise-party planning, Laurens wanders the bookstore looking for gift ideas. He finds any number of books that Hamilton would like – he seems to read non-stop, even on top of schoolwork – but nothing that really strikes him as special. There’s the school spirit section, of course, with sweatshirts and t-shirts and assorted trinkets in school colors, but that seems even less likely. He wonders if Lafayette has had any better luck coming up with ideas. He sighs, wandering back to the political science section and trying to decide which book Hamilton would like the best.

“Hi, Laurens!”

He turns so quickly he almost loses his balance, leaning back against the bookshelf to regain his footing.

“Did I scare you?” Hamilton asks. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Laurens says. “I was just looking for textbooks.” Which is at least partially true.

“Me too. I should have ordered them earlier.” Hamilton smiles. “We have history of political parties together, right?”

Laurens nods. “I think so. And global economics.”

“Oh yeah,” Hamilton says. “What professor assigns six books for an econ class?”

“This one, apparently. At least they look interesting?” Interesting to Hamilton, at least.

“Yeah, I guess so.” Hamilton brightens suddenly. “Hey, you’re in an art class this semester, right?”

Laurens nods. It’s the one class he’s really looking forward to.

Hamilton smiles again and reaches up to pull a stack of books off the shelves in front of them. He hands half the pile to Laurens and says, “I’ve got to go get my math textbook and run some errands for work study, but I’ll see you tonight?”

“Yeah,” Laurens says as he peers over the stack of books in his arms, relieved that he doesn’t have to take all the math Hamilton does as an econ major.

“See you!” Hamilton says, and then he’s gone, leaving Laurens with a heavy pile of textbooks and still no clue what to get him for a birthday present.

*

“What does Alexander even like?” he complains to Lafayette that night. Hir roommate moved out over break, lucky for hir.

Lafayette snorts. “Writing. Math. And stress.”

“Too hard to wrap,” Laurens replies. “What are you getting him?”

“Coffee,” Lafayette says. “The fancy kind he never buys for himself. And a new notebook.”

“Hmm,” Laurens says. Those are good ideas. Too bad Lafayette thought of them first.

“You’re overthinking,” ze says gently. “He’ll like whatever you get him.”

“I know,” Laurens replies. “That’s why I want to get him something special. To show I didn’t just buy the first thing I knew he’d like.”

Lafayette leans over and kisses the top of his head. “You’re sweet. But he’s not going to know whether you bought the first thing or the tenth.” Ze smiles. “And besides, he already likes you.”

Laurens smiles faintly. “Thanks. How did your party planning go?”

Lafayette grins. “I’m in charge of cake and snacks, which I will take care of during my afternoon break. I’ll leave my door unlocked so Angelica and Eliza can decorate. All the rest of us have to do is show up and make sure we get Hamilton here at six o’clock.”

“Wow,” Laurens says. “That’s a lot for one day.”

“Don’t underestimate the finely tuned machine that is Lafayette and the Schuyler sisters when it comes to birthday surprise parties.”

“I’ll be on guard in October,” Laurens laughs. Ze just grins.

“I should go to bed,” Laurens sighs. “I still have to think of Hamilton’s gift in between classes.”

“You’ll figure it out,” ze says. “Goodnight.”

“’Night,” Laurens says.

He tries to enter his room quietly, and finds that his roommate, Friedrich von Steuben, has moved in but hasn’t come back for the night yet. They hadn’t gotten to know each other very well last semester, but he’s nice enough. Laurens sits down on his bed and stares at the pile of textbooks on his desk, hoping for inspiration. His new sketchbook rests on the top of the pile, which includes the art history book amidst a lot of law and politics and econ he doesn’t want to take.

His sketchbook – that’s the beginning of an idea.

He gets up and stands in front of his desk, opening the sketchbook to the first clean page. If there’s one thing he’s good at, it’s drawing, and it’s something he can give Hamilton that means more than a book from the campus store. He takes the sketchbook and sits down again on his bed, pencil hovering over the page.

*

Hamilton gets home in an unusually good mood, pleased with his first day of classes.

“Hey, Alex!”

He turns to see Lafayette standing outside hir dorm.

“Hi!” he replies.

“How were your classes?”

“Fascinating, actually, I’ve got this global econ class…” Hamilton stops himself mid-sentence. “Sorry. How were yours?”

“Fine,” Lafayette says, smiling. “Want to come in for a while and tell me about the econ class?”

“Oh, that’s okay. I’ve got homework and syllabi to sort through.”

“Already? It’s the first day,” Lafayette points out.

Hamilton weighs the satisfaction of having his to-do list organized and written out with the much more fun prospect of hanging out with Lafayette. “It can wait, I guess,” he says.

Lafayette grins. “Good.” ze pushes the door open wider for Hamilton.

“Happy birthday!” ze shouts, joined by Laurens, Hercules, Angelica, Eliza, and, of course, Peggy.

Hercules throws xir arms around Hamilton, who reflexively hugs xir back. “Happy birthday!” xe shouts for emphasis, knocking aside a stray balloon.

Eliza kisses his cheek, throwing her arm around his shoulder.

Hamilton, for once in his life, seems speechless.

“Alex? Are you alright?” she asks.

“I’ve…” he pauses, looking around before continuing, “I’ve just never had a surprise party before. Not like this.”

Eliza squeezes his shoulder. “You don’t have to stay if you don’t want to,” she says quietly.

Hamilton shakes his head, seeming to come out of a fog. “No, it’s okay.” He hugs her back. “Thank you.” He turns back to the rest of the room, smiling. If his eyes are a little wet, no one says anything.

Lafayette turns on hir iPod, sending French pop music blasting through the dorm. Hamilton laughs. Ze shrugs. “It might be your party, but it’s my iPod.”

“So,” Angelica says, standing up from Lafayette’s couch, “cake or presents first?”

“Oh, cake, obviously,” Hamilton says, grinning.

“How does being nineteen feel?” Laurens asks him.

“Pretty much the same as eighteen,” Hamilton replies. “Still not very much like an adult.”

Laurens smiles. “Here,” he says, handing Hamilton a manila envelope.

“What’s this?” he asks.

“Your gift,” Laurens says, flushing slightly. “I know you have other presents to open later, I just…wanted to give it to you now.”

“Thanks,” Hamilton says. He takes the envelope, sliding the sheet of paper out while everyone else is occupied with the cake. “Oh.”

On the paper is a drawing of the three of them – himself, Lafayette, and Laurens – painted with vibrant color. “Oh, wow, Laurens. Thank you.”

Laurens smiles, blushing even more. “I just wanted to give you something…you know, that meant something.”

“You did,” Hamilton says, and hugs him.

When he looks up, Lafayette is smiling over at them both. “Cake, Alexander,” ze says, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him back into the party. Laurens follows them, smiling a little to himself for the rest of the evening.

Peggy insists on being the first, or rather second, to give Hamilton her gift, a set of new pens.

“For drafting our articles for the school paper,” she says. Though she won’t start at the university until the fall, she spends enough time around her sisters to not only have become friends with Hamilton but started to plan their journalism career. Hamilton is as enthusiastic about this idea as Angelica is skeptical.

Eliza gives Hamilton a scarf and the promise of dinner for the two of them, making a joke about Hamilton’s intolerance of the New York winters. He rolls his eyes but looks over at her fondly. Angelica ruins any possibility of a moment by dumping a pile of books in his lap.

“For my birthday, you can assure me that you’ve read them,” she says.

Hercules’s gift is a hat to match the scarf, which Hamilton promptly pulls over his ponytail.

“Perfect,” Eliza says.

He unwraps Lafayette’s gift last. “Now I’ll have something to write those articles on,” he says to Peggy, and reaches over to hug Lafayette.

“Thank you,” he says. “Best birthday.”

“Aw,” Lafayette says, kissing his cheek. “We should do this every year,” ze jokes.

Hamilton smiles and leans his head against Eliza’s shoulder. He has a whole semester to get through, but he has found a family to get through it with.

 


End file.
